Adjustable tubular fabric spreader



y 1951 E. s. BEARD 2,553,074

ADJUSTABLE TUBULAR FABRIC SPREADER Filed April 18, 1949 Edwbrd 5'. BeardWWW m Patented May 15, 1951 UNIT ED STATES PAT E NT Q'F F ICE.

ADJUSTABLE TUBULAR FABRIC" SPREADER;

Edward S;..-Beard, Spring City, Pa.

Application April' 18, 1949'; Serial No..88;116

31 Glaims.

1 Thepresentinvention relates to spreaders such as: are. used. inthetextile: trade andindustr-y: for

spreading tubular webbing made; for. example,

from: cotton, wool, rayon; silk: and .the like;

Tubular material spreaders in. this same field of endeavor are, ofcourse, not-new. What is more; there. are. variant'types; which are inuse: or havezbeen' proposed for; use andthey serve; primarily,.to spreadthe webbing asit'passesthereoverand to thereafter assist:inreeling'orwinding same into a skein or other convenient formv to laterassist in the, making. of. underwear." and the like. These. spreadersareused, as a matter of fact. to control. and govern the: size ofundershirts, such: as are prepared from tubular. stock of the natureunder advisement. Spreaders-are made in different sizes and each one isgenerally inch larger in widththan the-other; the lengths beinggenerally the same; and, as stated, the spreader is commonly used. priorto the completionof' a shirt or equivalent garment.

In the trade, after the. webbing is bleachedthe nextoperation is toform. the. size of the garments and this-is done by passing thewebbingover a spreader of the-typeherein shown and described. There arequiteanumber of: spreaders. in practical. industrial. use ranging from some 6vinches to; 42. inches. The size? is. mentioned .inmeference toztheoutside dimensions orwidth of the spreader as'a unit.

Incarrying out, the principles of the. instant invention, 1- haveevolved and producedv a. simple and efficient. spreader constructionwhich is possessed of.- the-utmost ofsimplicity and isotherwisesuch.indesign.- and adaptable.- construction aszto better fulfilltherequirements of the. textile industry in this specific phasethereof.

The fact that some of these spreaders. in use are; fairly complicatedand are often. fragilev in general make-up, it is another purpose ofthein,- ventionto: provide a: spreader which. is strong and durable, isdestined to long life and is strengthened because of the-adaptation. andallocation of the complemental. features which goto formthe completedevice.

More specifically, the present invention hasto do with a spreader framewhich is characterized by a novel and improved extensibleand. retract.-ible base'means which makes it possible to adjust the frame parts towardand from each other to enable the one spreader to. takethe place ofseveralv spreaders of. the. one-piece type. commonly employed in theindustry.

In carrying out the principles of the present invention I aim to'improvenot only on patents grantedto others in this; line of endeavor? but,primarily, ona prior Patent"2,450,932 ofiQctober 12, 1948 grantedto.me.. Reference being'hadto the. previous patent, itwill beseen that it.has .to do with a. sturdy, open-.worlc'frame embodying an elongatedU-shaped member, a transverse rod situated between and rigidly securedatits ends to theterminalends of the limbs or arms of 'said U-shapedmember, the portion of the latter being cylindrical in cross section andof predetermined diameter, the major portion of said transverse-rodbeing also cylindrical in cross section but of a diameter greater thanthe diameter ofsaid portion, and'apair of cylindricalforwardlyconverging reinforcing or stabilizing rods the same in diameter as' thestated portions, the converging ends of the latter rodsbeing closetogether and integrated with the inner marginal surface of the big-htofsaid U-shaped member and-the reardi verging ends of said rods beingspaced inwardly from said limbs and integrated with the forward surfaceof the cylindrical portion of said'transverse rod;

Inreducingto practice the present invention I utilize the U-shaped frameor member, the angularly related brace or stabilizing rods and a-transverse base means, said base meansbeing improved in that it is ofsectional construction with the coacting sections telescopicallyconnected together and provided with handy adjusting means; permittingsaid base means to be lengthened or. shortened and adjusting thereinforcing rods: and limbs of the U framein conlunction therewith.

Anoutstanding objective is to retain the facilities-and. advantagesof mypatented spreader and to add thereto the' adjustmentfeature in theformof. novel base: means while, at the same? time, maintaining the factorsof rigidity and strength, a; highly important achievement indeed.

Features and advantages not specifically mentioned in the precedingdescription will, be. clear as the. reader pursues his analysis of. thedrawings, detailed description and. the subjoined claims;

In.the drawings:

Figure 1? is .a perspective viewof an adjustabletype textile spreaderconstructed in accordance with the principles of the present. inventionand showing, in dotted lines, the improved adjustment feature;

Eigure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a fragmentary type withportions broken. awaysand shown; in section; to reveal the details of myimprovements; and.

Figure. 3 is. a cross-section on the liner 3-1-3 of Figure 2,. looking:in. the. direction of the arrows.

Referring now tothe drawings by distinguishing reference numerals and.accompanying. lead lines; the numeral; 5 designates the stated u-shaped.member. or frame which is made. of solid. rods and. characterized by aroundedinose or'bight portiontfifi and. a pair. of opposed complementallimbs or armstl and 8, the major; basal ends: of which are inapproximateparallelism.

The complemental stay rods are denoted by the numerals 9 and ID and areon opposite sides of the longitudinal center of the frame. The forwardconverging ends are integrated as at the points 9a and I on with theinner peripheral surface of the bight portion 6.

The improvements reside, as stated, in the base means; otherwise theoverall structure has the same general make-up and appearance of thespreader frame disclosed in my previous Patent 2,450,932.

Generally speaking, the base means is a sectional mechanical device of aprecision adjustment type and yet is sturdy and, therefore, of greatstrength to resist distortion of the frame and stays. r

Reference being had to Figure 2, it will be seen that the adjustmentmeans II takes the form of a turnbuckle housed and concealed, essentially speaking, within the confines of a cylindrical main sleeve I2.Auxiliary sleeves I3 and I3a, of duplicate construction, aretelescopicaly slidable in the end portions of the main sleeve or handleI 2. These auxiliary sleeves form parts of the turnbuckle means and theyare provided at their inner open ends with ring nuts I4 (one only shownin Fig. 2) welded or otherwise secured in place. A screw-threaded shafthaving oppositely threaded portions I and I6 serves to adjustably couplethe sleeves I3 and I3a and nuts I4 together. That is to say, thescrewthreaded end portions are screwed into the com-.

plemental nuts to make the adjustable union between the parts. Acircular collar I1 is rigidly mounted on the median portion of the shaftbetween the screw-threaded end portions I5 and I6 and said collar isprovided with a peripheral groove i8 which is registrable withdiametrically opposite orifices or ports I9 in the sleeve I2. After theturnbuckle means is assembled in the sleeve I2, welding material ispoured through the openings or ports I9 into the groove I8 and thus thesleeve I2 becomes a rigid part of the collar and consequently the shaftI5 to which the collar is affixed. It follows, therefore, that bygrasping the handle or sleeve I 2 and turning it in an obvious fashion,the turnbuckle means serves to project and retract the auxiliary sleevesI3 and I3a. One end of the stay rod II) is welded at 2I to the sleeve I3. The corresponding end of the arm 8 is welded at 22 to the tapered endportion 23 of said sleeve. The same idea is carried at the right inFigure 2 where it will be seen that the'stay rod 9 is welded at 24 tothe projectible and retractible sleeve I3a, while the corresponda ingend of the arm I is welded at 25 to the tapered terminal or end portion25 of said sleeve I'Sa. It is novel, I believe, to interconnect thecomplemental arms or limbs of a U-frame, and coacting end portions ofcompanion braces with triple sleeve base means having a turnbuckleconstruction housed and concealed in the several sleeves I2, I3 and ISo. More specifically, novelty is predicated on a turnbuckle screwcarrying, at its center, a collar which is snugly fitted into the boreof the sleeve I2 and welded or otherwise secured rigidly to the screwbetween the oppositely threaded end portions I5 and I 6. s

From the foregoing description and illustrative drawings it will beevident that I have evolved and produced a simple, practical, highlyefiicient, reliably sturdy textile spreader which is possessed of9.1101? the features and advantages established in my prior Patent2,450,932, plus the 4 highly important advantage of a properlyconstructed adjusting device forming the base means for the stays andarms of the frame structure.

Itisthought that persons skilled in the art to which theinventionrelates will be able to obtain a clear undersanding of the inventionafter considering the description in connection with the drawings.Therefore, a more lengthy description is regarded as unnecessary.

Minor changes in the shape, size and arrangement of details comingwithin the field of invention claimed may be resorted to in actualpractice, if desired.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A textile spreader of the class shown and described comprising aU-shaped frame includinga curvate bight portion and opposedsubstantially parallel limbs, and extensible and retractible base meansinterposed between and connected with the free end portions of saidlimbs, said base means embodying a main handle forming sleeve, auxiliarysleeves fitted telescopically and slidably into the respective ends ofsaid main sleeve, nuts fitted and secured in the inner opposed ends ofsaid auxiliary sleeves, a feed screw having end portions threaded intothe respective nuts, a collar fixed on the central portion of said feedscrew between said nuts and fitting snugly in the central portion ofsaid main sleeve, the latter being fixed to said collar.

2. The structure defined in claim 1, wherein said collar has aperipheral groove and said main sleeve has orifices aligned with saidgroove,

whereby said main sleeve may be fixed to said collar by injecting weldinmaterial through said orifices into said groove. 7

3. A tubular fabric spreader for use in the textile industry comprisinga substantially U- shaped frame embodying a bight portion and opposedsubstantially parallel limb portions, and extensible and retractiblebase means interposed between the free end portions of said limbs, saidbase means embodying a'main handle-forming open-ended sleeve, 2. pair ofauxiliary duplicated sleeves fitted telescopically and slidably into therespective ends of said main sleeveand projecting beyond said ends andsecured attheir respective outer ends to the free ends of said limbs,turnbuckle means housed partially within "the intermediate portion ofsaid main sleeve and interposed between the adjacent inner ends of saidauxiliary sleeves and operatively connected with the main and auxiliarysleeves, respectively, in a manner to slidably project and retract theauxiliary sleeves in respect to the end portions ofthe main sleeve, anda pair of convergent reinforcing rods within the confines of saidU-shaped frame and connected at their diverging ends of the respectiveauxiliary sleeves and at their converging ends to the inner marginalsurfaces of the central region of the bight portion of said U- shapedframe.

EDWARD S. BEARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

